TITLE: Paper Anniversary (6/?) <—-(You never know how long I might ramble.)
PAIRING: Lindsay/Cindy – duh
SUMMARY: Lindsay and Cindy celebrate their anniversary. But which one?
NOTES: The is a sequel to House Arrest… as requested. For Nikky and anyone else who wanted, but was too shy to ask. Couldn’t relegate it to a one-shot though. I love this Lindsay and Cindy too much!
DISCLAIMER: Women’s Murder Club does not belong to me. The characters do not belong to me. They are the property of James Patterson, 20th Century Fox Television and ABC. (Well, not anymore. Jackasses.) I have no problems with that as long as I can borrow them for short bursts and use them in pursuit of my own enjoyment. I am not trying to infringe. Though, I don’t know why anyone has a problem with fan fic. After all, it really is a compliment. If anyone wants to write fan fiction about my book, feel free.

(December 25 – Cindy’s POV)

“Are you still upset that you didn’t get anything from Jill and Claire?”

“No,” Cindy pouted. “Why would I be upset? It’s not like we bought them gifts just to get something in return. Christmas is about the joy of giving. It’s about showing people that you think about them and seeing their gleeful little faces light up.”

There may have been an ounce too much sarcasm in that for Lindsay to ignore.

“So you are still upset,” she stated.

“Well, aren’t you?” Cindy questioned in a reasonably subdued tone. “Just a little bit? I wasn’t expecting anything in particular, but I was expecting something.”

And it wasn’t that she needed more stuff. Seriously, she had plenty of things. It’s just that, for her, Christmas had always been about showing people that you care about them by giving them small tokens of your affection. She’d put some serious thought into Jill and Claire’s gifts. That’s what hurt. She didn’t need some huge, extravagant present, but a little something that said, “Hey, we think you are the most fabulous redhead ever,” would have been nice. A pack of gum would have been sufficient, a used paperback, something. And Lindsay had gotten nothing too, which was just weird. It really made her wonder if Jill and Claire were as okay with the two of them being a couple as they said they were.

“You got that pen set from Jacobi,” Lindsay reminded her.

“Which was really nice,” Cindy acknowledged. “But it’s not the gifts. I just can’t believe they didn’t even bother with, like, some baked goods… or a crocheted scarf… or something.”

“Can you imagine Jill baking or crocheting anything?” Lindsay snarled her nose.

“That’s not the point,” Cindy mumbled and looked out the window.

The houses, decorated up for the holiday, rolled by, and Lindsay reached over and took her hand, her thumb smoothing over the back of it. Christmas music streamed lightly from the radio, providing soundtrack to her worried inner musings, and a few minutes later they were pulling up outside their destination.

As soon as they were in park, Cindy’s mom rushed out of the house to greet them, grabbing Lindsay up in a brutal hug.

“Merry Christmas, Mom,” Cindy greeted as she emerged from the car. “Please don’t crush Lindsay.”

Meant as a humane suggestion on Lindsay’s behalf, it ended up drawing her mom’s attention to her instead. Cindy squirmed out of her mother’s arms after a minute and reached in the backseat for the bag of presents.

“Oh… you brought gifts?” her mom asked.

“Yes. Just like I do every year,” Cindy replied slowly. “It is Christmas, Mom.”

“Oh, goodness,” her mom responded cheerily. “We’d decided no gifts this year. Didn’t I tell you?”

“No,” Cindy stated grimly.

“Well, we did,” her mom responded, eyeing the packages in Cindy’s hand. “I know… I’ll just give you a check. You know I just got the roof worked on, so I’ll have to postdate it, but it will spend the same… in a week or so. Come inside.”

And, as if they hadn’t just engaged in a completely unacceptable conversation that ended with an even more unacceptable culmination, Cindy’s mom went on inside, leaving her daughter standing slack-mouthed out front. Somewhere in her mind,Cindy was somewhat aware of Lindsay walking over to take the heavy gift bag from her arms, lightening the physical burden. But a heavier burden remained.

“Let’s just enjoy the day,” Lindsay encouraged.

“Sure,” Cindy agreed with an automatic, less than heartfelt nod. “My Mom just enlightened me to the fact that she forgot to tell me there were to be no gifts this year, which I would have fought, because I think it’s stupid.” Lindsay glanced over her shoulder at the front door, and Cindy knew that she was being an immature brat, but she simply couldn’t find it within herself to care at the moment. “Claire and Jill didn’t even bother with a fruitcake. And it is so not about the stuff. I just…” she broke off in a huff.

“Everything will feel different after some ham and cookies,” Lindsay motioned with her head toward the house. “I promise.”

“What is with everybody?” Cindy muttered as they moved in the direction of the door.

“Bad economy?” Lindsay offered.

“Bad something,” Cindy said back, shaking her head. “But at least we still have each other’s gifts.”

“Right,” Lindsay replied, and Cindy tried to pretend that she didn’t look utterly nervous as she ducked inside.